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1. Convergence Culture – Henry Jenkins

  • Media, content, people, and corporations converge across platforms.

  • Optimistic view: enables self-expression, exploration of interests, community-building, participatory culture.

  • Key term: transmedia storytelling (Marvel as an example).

  • Critical question: Does convergence democratize culture or consolidate corporate power?

2. Algorithmic Cultures – Ted Stryfus

  • Pessimistic counterpoint to Jenkins.

  • Algorithms appear to give choice but steer behavior toward commercial outcomes.

  • Links to Adorno & Horkheimer’s “culture industry” critique (illusion of choice).

  • Shows how power and profits concentrate via platform data practices.

3. Algorithmic Imaginaries – Taina Booher

  • How users imagine algorithms to work shapes their posting and consumption habits.

  • Not just “false beliefs” – imaginaries actively structure user behavior (e.g., trying to “game” TikTok).

  • Important for explaining why audiences self-moderate content or adopt strategies to go viral.

4. Spiral of Silence – Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann

  • People self-censor opinions perceived as unpopular.

  • Leads to underrepresentation of certain views and skewed perception of public opinion.

  • Mass media act as key reference points for the “climate of opinion.”

  • Fits especially well with online moderation, shadow banning, and self-policing behaviors.

5. Platforms as Techno-Cultural & Socio-Economic Constructs – José van Dijck

  • Platforms are not neutral; they have three techno-cultural and three socio-economic elements:

    • Technology (data, metadata, algorithms)

    • Users/usage

    • Content

    • Ownership

    • Governance

    • Business models

  • Encourages a six-element framework for analyzing any platform.

6. Gillespie’s Four Dimensions of Platforms

  • Computational: infrastructures supporting apps and services.

  • Architectural: built structures for activity (rules, affordances).

  • Figurative: bases for other actions/events.

  • Political: spaces of speech and power relations.

  • Good for examining platform power and “who benefits.”

7. Audience Labor (Work of Watching & Being Watched) – Nicholas Carra

  • Work of Watching: paying attention, performing semiotic analysis even when passive.

  • Work of Being Watched: producing user-generated content/data for free (surveillance capitalism).

  • Questions: What kind of work? For whom? Who benefits? Is it fair?

  • Connects to Facebook/Meta claims about data, ads, and “better service.”

8. Digital Panopticon (Carlson & Fraser)

  • Adaptation of Bentham’s panopticon: constant potential surveillance online.

  • Users behave as if always being watched (future employers, family, state).

  • Explains self-censorship and “joyful assertion” strategies in Indigenous social media.

9. Surveillance Capitalism – Shoshana Zuboff

  • “Human experience as free raw material” → behavioral data → prediction products.

  • Distinction between data used for service vs. behavioral surplus used for behavioral futures markets.

  • Shows how AI training and ad targeting monetize user activity.

10. Kittler’s Three Stages of Media (Symbolic, Technical, Digital)

  • Symbolic: embodied human communication (writing, rock art).

  • Technical: technologies that store/transmit media (telegraph, TV).

  • Digital: binary, interoperable, distributed networks.

  • Good for analyzing the infrastructure behind any media artifact.

11. Agenda-Setting (Lippmann, Cohen)

  • Media don’t tell you what to think but what to think about.

  • Shapes salience of issues rather than direct persuasion.

  • Works well with examining front-page placement, trending topics, or the stimulus’s highlighted features.1

1. Convergence Culture (Henry Jenkins)

One theory/concept from the course: Convergence Culture (Henry Jenkins)
Explain this theory/concept: Convergence culture describes how media, content, and audiences flow across multiple platforms, enabling participatory practices and remixing.
Why especially appropriate for analysing the stimulus: The stimulus can be seen as part of a larger ecosystem where meanings and audiences circulate between channels, communities, and corporate owners.
One question inspired by this theory/concept: How does this media artifact encourage audiences to carry its message across other platforms or remix it into new contexts?

2. Algorithmic Culture (Ted Stryfus)

One theory/concept from the course: Algorithmic Culture (Ted Stryfus)
Explain this theory/concept: Algorithmic culture highlights how platforms’ hidden rules guide what people see and do, creating an illusion of free choice while steering behaviour toward commercial outcomes.
Why especially appropriate for analysing the stimulus: Any stimulus circulating online is shaped by algorithmic curation that decides its visibility and reception.
One question inspired by this theory/concept: In what ways might algorithms decide who sees this message and how that shapes its impact?

3. Algorithmic Imaginaries (Taina Booher)

One theory/concept from the course: Algorithmic Imaginaries (Taina Booher)
Explain this theory/concept: Algorithmic imaginaries are the beliefs and assumptions users form about how algorithms work, which influence how they post, watch, and interpret content.
Why especially appropriate for analysing the stimulus: Audiences of this stimulus will act based on what they imagine about reach, virality, or moderation, not just on the content itself.
One question inspired by this theory/concept: How do users’ assumptions about platform algorithms affect how they share or respond to this artifact?

4. Spiral of Silence (Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann)

One theory/concept from the course: Spiral of Silence (Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann)
Explain this theory/concept: The spiral of silence theory says people self-censor opinions they perceive as unpopular, leading to skewed public discourse.
Why especially appropriate for analysing the stimulus: Any stimulus could shape which views feel “safe” to express and which become invisible.
One question inspired by this theory/concept: What opinions or identities might audiences suppress when engaging with this stimulus?

5. Platforms as Techno-Cultural & Socio-Economic Constructs (José van Dijck)

One theory/concept from the course: Platforms as Techno-Cultural & Socio-Economic Constructs (José van Dijck)
Explain this theory/concept: Van Dijck’s framework sees platforms as intertwined technical systems and business structures shaped by ownership, governance, and culture.
Why especially appropriate for analysing the stimulus: The stimulus exists within a platform whose design, rules, and business model influence its meaning and reach.
One question inspired by this theory/concept: How do the platform’s ownership, governance, or business model affect how this content is produced or received?

6. Gillespie’s Four Dimensions of Platforms

One theory/concept from the course: Gillespie’s Four Dimensions of Platforms
Explain this theory/concept: Platforms are simultaneously computational, architectural, figurative, and political spaces that enable and constrain speech.
Why especially appropriate for analysing the stimulus: Any online stimulus sits in a platform that structures who can speak, how, and with what power.
One question inspired by this theory/concept: How do this platform’s architecture and politics shape who benefits from the message?

7. Audience Labor – Work of Watching / Being Watched (Nicholas Carra)

One theory/concept from the course: Audience Labor (Nicholas Carra)
Explain this theory/concept: Audiences perform unpaid labor by paying attention (“watching”) and by producing data/content (“being watched”) that benefits media companies.
Why especially appropriate for analysing the stimulus: Any stimulus demands audience attention and generates data that can be monetized.
One question inspired by this theory/concept: What kinds of unpaid work do audiences do when they engage with this stimulus?

8. Digital Panopticon (Carlson & Fraser)

One theory/concept from the course: Digital Panopticon (Carlson & Fraser)
Explain this theory/concept: The digital panopticon describes how constant potential surveillance online causes users to regulate themselves as if always being watched.
Why especially appropriate for analysing the stimulus: Any stimulus on social media may be consumed under conditions of surveillance, shaping how people present themselves.
One question inspired by this theory/concept: How might the awareness of being watched change how people share or comment on this artifact?

9. Surveillance Capitalism (Shoshana Zuboff)

One theory/concept from the course: Surveillance Capitalism (Shoshana Zuboff)
Explain this theory/concept: Surveillance capitalism captures human experience as free raw material for behavioural data used to predict and influence future actions.
Why especially appropriate for analysing the stimulus: Any stimulus online can generate behavioural surplus data beyond what is needed for service delivery.
One question inspired by this theory/concept: How is data from interactions with this stimulus harvested and turned into prediction products?

10. Kittler’s Three Stages of Media (Symbolic, Technical, Digital)

One theory/concept from the course: Kittler’s Three Stages of Media
Explain this theory/concept: Kittler distinguishes symbolic (embodied), technical (mass-produced), and digital (binary, interoperable) media as historical stages shaping communication.
Why especially appropriate for analysing the stimulus: Any modern stimulus embodies digital principles—binary code, interoperability, and distributed networks—which affect how it is stored and shared.
One question inspired by this theory/concept: How does the digital infrastructure behind this artifact change its reach and meaning compared with earlier media forms?

11. Agenda-Setting (Lippmann, Cohen)

One theory/concept from the course: Agenda-Setting (Lippmann, Cohen)
Explain this theory/concept: Agenda-setting theory states media don’t tell people what to think but what to think about by making some topics salient over others.
Why especially appropriate for analysing the stimulus: Any stimulus can function to prioritise certain issues or products in public attention.
One question inspired by this theory/concept: What topics or values does this stimulus push to the top of the audience’s agenda?

Section 1: Lasswell’s Model of Communication

Q1.1 Who
IKEA (the company/brand) as the sender of the message.

Q1.2 What
Promoting its “IKEA kitchen matchmaker” quiz – an interactive tool to help customers design or choose a kitchen.

Q1.3 In which channel
The official IKEA website (ikea.com) – specifically the home page banner.

Q1.3.1 How does the use of this channel in particular support the message and its intended effect(s)?
Using the website allows IKEA to directly target active shoppers online, integrate the quiz seamlessly with its product catalogue, and drive immediate participation or purchases without requiring users to leave the site.

Q1.4 To whom
Potential IKEA customers – especially household decision-makers planning a kitchen upgrade or renovation.

Q1.4.1 How do you know this?
The webpage prominently features “Take the quiz!” and “Go shopping” buttons, indicating it targets people actively looking for kitchen solutions or shopping for furniture online.

Q1.5 What effect (intended)
Encourage visitors to engage with the quiz and move from browsing to planning and purchasing IKEA kitchen products.

Section 2: Semiotics

Q2.1 Identify one sign in the stimulus.
The bright yellow “Go shopping” panel.

Q2.1.1 Denotative meaning
A clickable section inviting the user to start shopping on IKEA’s online store.

Q2.1.2 Two connotative meanings

  1. Yellow connotes warmth, optimism, and the IKEA brand colour – evoking positive feelings about shopping.

  2. The large bold text with an arrow connotes urgency/action – suggesting an easy, seamless path to purchase.

Q2.2 Identify two signs in the stimulus that work together to create meaning.

  1. The heart icons floating above people at the kitchen table.

  2. The text “The IKEA kitchen matchmaker.”

Q2.2.1 How these signs work together to create meaning (one sentence):
The hearts plus the “matchmaker” wording frame the kitchen quiz as a personalised, even romantic “match-making” experience that helps customers find their “perfect” kitchen.

Section 3: Encoding/Decoding

Q3.1 Dominant reading (aligned action/behaviour):
A viewer clicks “Take the quiz,” completes it, and starts planning an IKEA kitchen exactly as intended by the campaign.

Q3.2 Negotiated reading (mixed action/behaviour):
A viewer likes the quiz idea but only browses for inspiration, then buys kitchen products elsewhere or later.

Q3.3 Oppositional reading (resistant action/behaviour):
A viewer rejects the quiz as manipulative marketing and leaves the site without engaging or shopping.

Section 4: Critical Theory Application

Q4.1 One theory/concept from the course (not Lasswell, semiotics, or Hall):
The Culture Industry (Adorno & Horkheimer).

Q4.1.1 Explain this theory/concept (1–2 sentences):
The “culture industry” refers to the mass production of cultural goods that standardise taste and behaviour, framing consumers as passive audiences whose desires are shaped by corporate interests.

Q4.1.2 Why especially appropriate for analysing the stimulus (1–2 sentences):
IKEA’s quiz and bright visuals commodify the kitchen-planning process, transforming a personal home decision into a standardised, branded experience that channels consumers toward buying IKEA products.

Q4.1.3 One question inspired by this theory/concept:
How does IKEA’s “kitchen matchmaker” turn an individual’s style preferences into a predictable, mass-marketed kitchen solution that benefits the company?